The (near) future of advertising — if we have our way

It’s a rainy afternoon and you’re at work. You’re a bit bored, so you decide to check the news on your computer. You go straight to your favourite news site, but before you manage to get into the article about global warming, a massive pop-up ad covers the text. Your favourite ice-cream is on-screen, tempting you — you’re trying your best to stick to your diet. You close the ad, but that section about ice-caps is doing nothing to suppress your sudden craving for ice-cream. You close the article.

Surely you’ll be safe on social media — it’s pop-up free. Win. But it soon turns out that instead of an escape to a world of baby pictures and animal videos, you’re left with adverts disguised as content, jolting you back to reality. You’re trying to cut down on drinking — joining a wine club is pretty unlikely to help you realise that aim. Every click feels like a gamble — where will I be taken this time? You try a few more websites, but there’s no escaping the adverts — they’re everywhere.

Quite desperate now, you switch to your mobile — self-playing music rings out, a pop-up follows you down the screen, there’s an advert that can’t be closed because the x is outside the screen…

…and then you wake up. Phew — it was just a visit from the Ghost of Advertising Past.

It’s actually a sunny day. You go for a walk and decide you really should buy that pair of sunglasses you found online last week. You’ve almost forgotten about the times when they would have followed you around the internet for days. You get home and visit your favourite news site, which is full of, well, news. You choose an article to read and pay for it with credits you earned answering a few questions in the people.io app. You enjoy the article, disturbance free, and you’re inspired to do something about your growing carbon footprint.

Your phone vibrates. It’s the people.io app notifying you about a new green products questionnaire — a great opportunity to express your new-found environmental concerns. You match with a brand selling smart thermostats that save the environment and reduce your energy bills. You earn credits for viewing this brand message, giving you enough to save £10 on your first step towards saving the world (your footprint is barely visible)…

You are most likely stuck in the first scenario, and you’re probably not enjoying it much. We’re not either. Let’s make it a thing of the past. Download our app and start changing the world of advertising.